What’s the greatest thing to happen to digital advertising? Linear television (and vice-versa).

Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

Even through the continuous fragmentation of devices, TV has been able to hold its own when compared to digital. But the truth is, television and digital don’t want to be compared, they want to be united.

TV is looking to take the conversation in a more harmonious direction than what we’ve all seen in the media (digital vs. television). Instead of pouncing on digital’s back and attacking, television wants to work in tandem so that media buyers and sellers can gain the effects of TV’s reach and digital’s frequency to make an efficient campaign. TV champions where digital lags and can be seen as a propeller for digital.

A media campaign is most effective when it utilizes the ultimate reach of TV with the targeting of digital. While TV is accumulating the targeting power that digital flaunts (e.g., programmatic TV), digital still has yet to grasp the power of reach without breaking the advertiser’s bank. This is why data has been such a large investment for advertisers, agencies and networks this year and why the tech to back-up the data is even more important. “New technology enables advertisers to understand how TV and other channels are working collectively to drive desired outcomes.” Dan Ackerman – SVP, Programmatic TV for Adapt.TV – states in Variety’s Guest Column.